After I purchased the little fairy door for the daughter I didn’t have yet and after I emailed the adoption agency on Sept 9, 2015, I went to sleep. It was almost midnight.
At 9:15am on Sept 10, the agency called me. I was so excited! I chose a smaller Christian agency that has been in business for 25 years. The founders have six adopted children and call their family a bag of Skittles because they are from all over the world and of many different ethnicities. It was the husband who called me that morning. I told him I couldn’t talk long because I was on my way to Court. He told me to call him after Court so that we could figure out which program would best fit me. They have programs around the world and domestically.
I should pause here to tell you that I’d had my heart set on a toddler from a 3rd world nation for as long as I could remember. The only thing I cared about was that she be a girl because as much as I love little boys, I do not have a husband. I know I can teach a girl how to be a woman. I feel that whenever possible, a little boy needs a man in the home to emulate. So with the image of a 3rd world toddler in my mind…
I said, “I don’t care where my baby comes from. I just want her to come home asap!”
Cautiously he asked, “Do you care about ethnicity?”
I said, “No. I know an adopted child will not look like me. I don’t care about ethnicity because she will be mine no matter what shade her skin, eyes and hair are.”
He said, “I think you’d be perfect for our domestic cross-cultural program. There’s a lot less paperwork and a lot less travel.”
I was a bit surprised because I assumed my child would be from a 3rd world nation.
He continued, “We work with birth moms who live in abject poverty and cannot afford to feed another mouth. We also work with birth families who have already had multiple CPS interventions.”
Now he was speaking my language.
I asked if domestic adoption was more expensive than international. He said international has become just as expensive as domestic.
I said, “I open to any program. I’d like a girl. Also, I want a child 3 years old or under because they are still cuddly.”
He said, “You can choose a girl in any program. However, you will get a newborn in the domestic program.”
I almost fell down. A newborn? But they don’t sleep at night!!! Additionally, I never thought I’d be eligible to get a newborn as a single woman. I was silent for a long time. This was my first adoption-related panic attack. When I finally spoke it was in stutters that made no sense and he laughed. I told him I needed time to think and he said he thought I would be excited when the shock wore off.
He was right! I’ve already found a crib and am reading all about the first year of life.
The next shock and panic came when I saw the sheet that listed all the fees. That’s why I’m doing a Puzzle Piece fundraiser that I wrote about on 9/20 (click here to read all about it).
auntie ba 